25 random things about me other people may or may not know
February 04, 2009

1. I am left-handed.

2. I once had my cigarette lit by Slash, of �Guns N Roses�. And if you don�t know me well, that may not seem like a huge deal, but it defies the laws of the universe to even put us in the same place at the same time, so it still amazes me.

3. I share a birthday with Heinrich Himmler, Nazi war criminal Irma Grese, Vladimir Putin, and Oliver North. But to balance out the evil, I also share it with three Nobel Laureates (Archbishop Tutu, Niels Bohr, and Sir Harold Kroto), Yo-Yo Ma...and my husband.

4. I could read before I started kindergarten.

5. I used to think that the most common emotion I�ve experienced over the course of my life was sadness, until I realized�it is boredom. I may be sad a lot, but I�m pretty sure I�ve experienced boredom at least once a day, every single day of my life. And I was reminded of this by the fact that, 5 items into this list, I�m bored.

6. While I�ve already rejected religion, I�m still in the process of rejecting God. That part is actually the hardest.

7. I�ve never seen �Ghandi�, �Schindler�s List�, or �Lawrence of Arabia�. And I don�t want to. No matter how good a movie is alleged to be, if it doesn�t interest me, it just doesn�t.

8. Growing up with three brothers scarred me�quite literally. I have scars by each eye, on my chin, on my ankle, on my (ahem) tushie, and one on my scalp that resulted in a permanent blonde streak in my hair, plus a chipped tooth. All due to various adventures instigated by my brothers.

9. Something that has always terrified me more than anything is the possibility of going blind. I�d rather get killed than survive without my sight.

10. Even though it was a lifelong dream to have my own swimming pool, when my husband bought me one, I didn�t want it. I would have preferred to have my bathroom remodeled.

11. I got drunk in my bedroom nearly every night, my last two years in high school.

12. I mentally rehearse nearly every encounter in my life�doctor visits, meetings, phone calls, social visits�any situation where I have to talk to someone. And I do a post-mortem on them all, after they are over. This is a lot of work, and it sometimes prevents me from initiating contact. But I can�t seem to not do it.

13. I would rather work in an office full of men than an office full of women. I don�t want to sound prejudiced, but it is just my personal experience in the workplace. I�ve worked with a lot of great guys, and a lot of horribly annoying women. I�ve been told I �think like a man�, and maybe that has something to do with it.

14. Sexual tension nauseates me. Yep. I get horny, I want to throw up. Romantic, eh?

15. I feel betrayed sometimes by the change in values from when I was a child. Once I was old enough to have the furs and diamonds I was taught to want back in the 60s and 70s, they became taboo�tainted with the blood of the humans and animals that die to provide them. I understand that, and I wear cloth coats and synthetic stones because it is the responsible, humane thing to do...but I still want my furs and my diamonds.

16. When I was a little girl, I used to tell people who asked that I wanted to be a nurse. I didn�t, but I had to say something, and I learned early that �truck driver� was not an acceptable answer for a girl. Acceptable answers were nurse, teacher, ballet dancer, and mommy. And I wanted to be a teacher, ballet dancer, or mommy a lot less than I wanted to be a nurse.

17. If I had to state the best decision I ever made, it would be: finally having hand surgery in 2005, after putting it of for various reasons for nearly 20 years. I still can�t believe the difference it has made in the quality of my life.

18. I believe, in my heart, that there is no one I can rely on for anything (except myself).

19. I�m currently without a hobby. Hobbies seem to run a pre-destined course with me, and then just fade away. Embroidery, flower-arranging, collecting art glass, beading�they�ve all fallen by the wayside and been replaced by something else�until now. And I really miss having something in my life to feel passionate about.

20. About 70% of what I do or don�t do in life is dictated one way or another by what people will think. But it�s not always a kind of timidity. Sometimes I want them to be shocked.

21. Even though I pretended to for a while once, I've never, ever had the slightest wish to have a baby.

22. I really miss my grandma--as much today as when she died in 1987.

23. When I was a little girl, I had no less than FOUR imaginary friends. Mary, Sally, Sue, and Jean. Can you tell I was starved for female company in that house full of boys?

24. As much as I've loved every dog I've ever had, I am a cat person at heart. I really wish I could have one again, but Spouse is allergic.

25. On the day I was born, John F. Kennedy signed the ratification for the Partial Test Ban Treaty.